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Smalltember (Smallvember) begins with a return appearance by the Flop House's favorite (insomuch as a terrible asshole can be a favorite) Canadian energy drink magnate-turned-filmmaker, Frank D'angelo, and his latest cinematic leavings, The Joke Thief. Meanwhile, Stuart reveals his love for all things Stu, Dan gives a few minor script notes, and Elliott's Nicholas Cage has snakes on the brain. Show notes

Janet Jackson

It's halloween, which means something scurry that maybe used to bring joy to many is lurking around every corner: Clowns! Ah! And they even have a sequel to a very particular clown coming back to haunt us. The twins lament over their fears: IT! It's back! Is there a scientific reason as to why people don't like clowns? The Wonder Twins also piece together the real meaning behind a very popular 90s dance jam and surprise: it's nasty. It's the 90s! James is freshly back from seeing the new and exciting version of OKLAHOMA! This ain't yo mamma's Oklahoma, on this dark take on this usually up beat American musical. This transitions into a conversation of how to do a remount of a classic play.Nnekay has some suggestions for him to see next. The duo talk about the rise in violence against the LGBTQ community, and is the economy really booming in Trump's America? Also the shitty tactics employed by the North Carolina State Representative to get bills paid on 9/11. The main event is all about The Moors! James breaks down who they are and how they brought alllllll the magic to Europe, brining them out of the Dark Ages and into the Renaissance giving us advancements in education, hygiene, food, medicine, dining, sexuality, music, technology, agriculture, the modern city, and more! The Moore's are giving us more, and it's time we give them credit, as once again Black folks and their contributions have been washed out of history. Not today on Minority Korner! James will probably drag Europe for there sad dark living before the Moors came in and Fixed Their Lives! Get ready to have your mind blown about the Moor's!

Mary Lambert is an Arkansas native and a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. There she became enfolded in the music scene, and her experimental shorts led her to the world of music videos. In her early career, she directed some of the most iconic videos of the time. A short list of these includes Janet Jackson’s “Control” and “Nasty Boys,” Madonna’s “Borderline,” “Like a Virgin,” “Material Girl,” “La Isla Bonita,” and “Like a Prayer.” Other artists include Tom Tom Club, Whitney Houston, The Go-Gos, Sting, Annie Lennox, and Debbie Harry. From there, Lambert ventured into feature films with her debut narrative, Siesta, an adaptation of Patrice Chapman’s novel by Patricia Knop. After that film, Lambert went back to music videos until she got the call that Stephen King was adapting his book Pet Sematary. She got the big OK from King and Pet Sematary was a hit. Most recently Lambert directed episodes of Step Up: High Water, Arrow, and The Blacklist.

The movie that Mary chose to discuss is TOO scary. She chose Ari Aster's Hereditary. Mary gets mystical on us - she examines witches, spells, and the subconscious tokens in art that are felt and not spoken. Plus, she talks about working with actors that have very different approaches. She and April dissect the inner workings of a melodrama. They celebrate the performances in Hereditary, particularly Milly Shapiro and Toni Collette. And Mary reveals the difficulty in cutting something she loves out of one of her projects.

We are breaking down everything San Diego Comic Con and Marvel, In fact, we're breaking down the whole 4th phase of the Marvel Universe. We're Excited Nerds!!!! Flowing with the Comic Con Theme, Nnekay has some Black Lady Cosplayers to follow on Instagram. James has some TV and book recommendations to get you through the summer!

Take a trip down memory lane with Wynter, Karen and Margaret as they revisit 1991 in music. If you’ve ever been curious what song was playing when Karen experienced her first same sex kiss, tune in. If you grew up in the nineties, this episode will bring you back to that moment in time. If you spent your formative years in the aughts, and want to experience the 90s vicariously through Pop Rocket, the panel goes into great detail about what makes 1991 such a pivotal epoch, giving us grunge, new jack swing, schmaltzy ballads and music fans that could embrace Nirvana, Boys II Men, C+C Music Factory and REM at once.

As an added bonus, we created a Pop Rocket 1991 Mixtape that you can listen to on Spotify.

All Abouts

Margaret is on thatPen15 tip, and reliving those awkward middle school years via Maya and Anna

Karen is all about the season three episode of This Is Us, entitled R & B

Wynter has fallen hard forCeline Dion after attending an event with the Québécoise chanteuse to promote her new album and tour

Did you know that you can now call and leave voicemails for the show? You can! If you want to comment on an episode, give us any feedback or just call to get advice from a panel member, the number is: (530) 237-4108

Hello Hello! This week we're kicking off February with some stories about white people being ridiculous... ahem Liam Neeson and his racist predatory past, and Governor Ralph Northam and his Blackface confessions. What is going on?! Gwyneth Paltrow is looking at a lawsuit by barreling down the mountain while skiing and taking out an old man, and James has two tickets to the next Fyre Festivalllllll! Is Nnekay going to take him up on that offer? In the Korners, Nnekay is bringing you another fab book list, this time covering Children's books with Native American and Indigenous Female leads! James will be revisiting the football protest in honor of Janet Jackson appreciation day aka the Superbowl. We end the show with an important announcement, so stick till the end!

Guy Branum is back for our first episode of 2019! Sadly, Margaret couldn’t join us because #health and Wynter was busy being a jet setter.

This week, the panelists share their pop culture resolutions for 2019, and own up to resolution fails from the past year.

Writer and comedian Tara Jepsen joins us in studio and Guy is awed by the combined power of her and Karen’s “lesbian efficiency.”

If you're curious about what Guy has been up to these past couple months, he catches us up. Spoiler alert (though not really): He consumed a lot of theater. In particular, he saw Matthew Lopez’s seven-hour, two-night play The Inheritance, and had LOTS of opinions about it.

From “learn more commercial jingles” to “master a new recipe a month,” the panel reveals an ambitious list of resolutions they may or may not be able to stick with for an entire year.

All Abouts

Karen is all about Bird Box the new Netflix thriller starring Sandra Bullocks.

Tara is all about hating a bootleg recording of a recent standup set by disgraced comedian Louis C.K..

Guy is all about The Inheritance by Matthew Lopez, which is loosely based on Howard's End.

Call to Action
Inspired by one panelist’s resolution to learn more commercial jingles, we are asking Rocketeers to call in and sing their favorite jingles on the Pop Rocket voicemail. We want to hear those jingles that will forever be lodged in your brain.

Did you know that you can now call and leave voicemails for the show? You can! If you want to comment on an episode, give us any feedback or just call to get advice from a panel member, the number is: (530) 237-4108

We got your full on 2018 Midterm Election Breakdown for you! The highs, the lows, and the continual fight to make sure this country's democracy can stay afloat. Also we're getting you pumped and ready for the 2020 election. We can't loose steam, peoples! But before we get to the main event, James has a SCOOP for Nnekay- Are we talking about Nipplegate, again? Maybe... ok yes... but the details might enlighten and surprise you. Nnekay has a scoop too... but it's not what you guys might think it is.

We are Alonso-less this week! But no fear, we more than make up for it with our stellar array of guests. We've got the return of Drea "The Dope Rhyme Slaya" Clark. Plus, a first time guest, music supervisor and Heat Rocks host, Morgan Rhodes. The crew is discussing the new Rock film Skyscraper. Several parallels are made between this new "building related action film" and Die Hard. They evaluate the career and acting capabilities of The Rock himself. Plus, Morgan commemorates Poetic Justice on the 25th anniversary of its release. And as always, staff picks. Make sure to listen closely, because the "El Mero-Mero de Navidad" may make a cameo in this episode.

The wonder twins are off on separate assignments. Nnekay is holding it down with her tidbits, and has some golden nuggets of wisdom for your around Twitter etiquette. Stop sharing ego beasts content that don't deserve our res hares! Also why is your brain wired for negative bias? Nnekay's got your answer! Next we visit Evan Forde Barden and Patrick Cartelli of The Repeater Podcast, who host a monthly talk show about people’s favorite songs. We talk about the music video for 'Love Will Never Do (Without You)', James’ early love of dance, and Nipplegate 2004 and how racism and sexism played into that debacle. Also James dishes out on all the hot Janet gossip! Plus, Evan discusses the Q&A he recently attended with Carly Rae Jepsen and gives some insight into his “obsession” with CRJ, that's right she's an acronym now, and how to handle hecklers! Get ready for this picnic for your brain!

If You're in the New York area catch James doing stand up, May 21st @7pm at Caroline's on Broadway, $5 but you have to use your phone as a phone like it's the 90s and reserve your spot 212-757-4100 and tell them you're coming to see James! Would love to have you there!

This episode is the edited version of our special live launch party we held on Nov. 11 in Los Angeles, as part of the Voyager Institute. We were joined by Grammy-nominated soul artist B.Slade, a self-described "RhythmNation-pedia" who, indeed, brought incredible insight and knowledge to our discussion of this seminal Jackson LP. How many people can name every single dancer in Janet's "Miss You Much" video? Exactly.

It was a delightful conversation and having the live audience was great. It was our first time taping in front of an audience but hopefully won't be our last. Thanks to all those who came out and to those who couldn't, we're happy you finally get to listen to this.